SEQUENCE

From left to right, Nancy Palk, Kevin Bundy, Jesse LaVercombe and Ava Jane Markus star in theatre’s January jackpot, Sequence, on stage now.

SMARTLY CALCULATED

Luck. Can’t find it in our DNA or can we? And you can’t buy it in Aisle 37 beside the Rubbermaid storage containers at Walmart but how nice would that be if you could!

And if someone could clearly prove why some people ooze with fortune while others are perpetually ill-fated with bad breaks, we’d all be playing the weekly lottery or avoiding it altogether.

The Tarragon Theatre presentation of Sequence is about as intellectually stimulating as it gets. In one sense, the story represents a seismic shift in staging while refreshingly challenging the validity of faith and science in an attempt to reach a common denominator.

Kevin Bundy euphorically beats the odds as a hope peddling, pulp publishing Super Bowl coin toss gambler. If optimism was an Astrological sign, Theo would no doubt be born on the 7th of the month. Ava Jane Markus’ child rearing truth seeker, Cynthia, makes you ache for a solution that disappointingly cannot be found.

Yet it’s the always astonishing Nancy Palk as Dr. Guzman that gives the breakthrough performance of the piece. She’s the kind of actor that can effortlessly crank up the ‘brains and ambition’ nuance in varied scenes. What’s more, her curt position on matters is what really gives the production the steady drive toward narrative cohesion.

Playwright Arun Lakra has everything to gain and nothing to lose in this smartly calculated and humourously winsome presentation pleasing miracle loyalists, probability theorists and the serendipitous deficient.

Events may happen for a reason in our universe accented by patterns and order. However, there’s no need to place your bets on any other show this month if a twisty drama your desired pick.